


The Name of the Game

by Gabriel_Is_My_Guardian_Angel89



Series: Non-Gabe Rich Bingo 2019 [2]
Category: The Agency (TV 2001)
Genre: Angst, Awkward Positions, Comforting!Lex, Confusing Positions, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Implied Oral, Implied Smut, Sad!Terri, mild panic attack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-12
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2020-06-26 03:49:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19760002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gabriel_Is_My_Guardian_Angel89/pseuds/Gabriel_Is_My_Guardian_Angel89
Summary: set post-1x09 The Rules of the Game. Terri reacts to finding out about the results of her C-4 Bowl and Lex helps to comfort her...and one thing leads to another.





	The Name of the Game

**Author's Note:**

> Freaky Friday prompt by WarlockWriter.

Terri's legs buckled as the news droned on, muffled by the sudden sound of blood rushing in her ears. She gripped the side rails of the treadmill tightly, thankful she had not started the machine yet. As the world tilted around her, she sank gracelessly to the ground.

_ Her fault. _ It was her fault that people had died. Her fault that the Yemeni compound had blown up. How many people had fallen victim to her fabricated antique? How many of them were only there, not as plotters of destruction, but because they cooked the food or cleaned the rooms? Oh God, what if there had been children in the blast radius?

Terri felt like she was gonna be sick. She stuck her head between her knees, fighting back the wave of nausea that roiled in her stomach. She had thought she was prepared to accept the fact that casualties were par for the course when she took this job, but nothing could prepare you to have the deadly results of your work shoved in your face on the evening news for the first time. It was a feeling she hoped she never got used to.

Lost in her own head as she tried to hold back the tears that threatened to spill over her lashes, Terri failed to her the approaching footsteps behind her.

"Terri?" A soft voice broke through the sound of her internal berating, causing her back to stiffen. "Terri, you okay?"

She took a deep breath and lifted her head, looking over her shoulder to see Lex hovering in the gym doorway. He took in the look on her face and entered the room, brows knit in confusion as he approached her carefully.

"They got Abul Savir." Terri's voice was whisper-quiet and Lex could feel the pain it exuded, his heart breaking for her unknown plight.

"That...that's a good thing right? I mean, that was the whole purpose of Lisa and Matt letting Eskol and his men get away with their little trick wasn't it? To get to Abul?"

Lex leaned against the treadmill, eyes focused on Terri as she wiped away at stray tears.

"Yeah, I know. It's just, they blew up the whole compound, Lex. And I gave them the ability to do that. It was my reproduction that killed them. The entire thing was made of C-4."

Lex sighed as understanding sunk in. The Arabian bowl she had spent the past week recreating down to the last detail. He walked over to her, his hand landing lightly on her shoulder as he looked her in the eye, needing her to understand.

"You were just doing your job. Sometimes, that includes taking out the bad guy if he can't be captured. You did nothing wrong, 'Ri."

"But it wasn't just Abul that died! What if there were innocent people on that compound?" Terri began to cry freely now, unable to hold back the tears.

"Okay, c'mon, we're going back up to the office. I know where Joshua keeps his stash, and you need a stiff drink. Come on."

Lex wrapped his arm around her shoulders and helped her up, her arm winding around his waist for support as he led her out of the gym and over to the elevators. As they stepped in and the doors closed, his grip tightened around her, his firm touch helping to stem the flow of tears as she sniffled against him.

Anybody else, and she would have stayed strong, held the pain in and pretended it was nothing; Lex was the one person she could let down her guard for. The only one of her co-workers she would ever let see her break. Because he knew, he understood. They were both new to this, neither completely used to the implications that came with working for the CIA. She could be herself with him and know he wouldn't just scoff it off, tell her she'd get used to it.

The elevator doors dinged open and Lex led her to Joshua's office, setting her gently in one of the chairs as he walked over to the filing cabinet in the corner. He picked the lock on the bottom drawer and pulled out a bottle of whiskey before returning her side.

"Gimme just a sec, okay Terri?"

Terri nodded numbly as he walked off. Her thoughts clouded her mind again in his absence, made-up images of bloody children and stone rubble flashing before her eyes. The tears slid down her cheeks as she tried to push back the sob that was working its way up her throat. She couldn't fall apart, if she did, even Lex wouldn't be able to pick up the pieces. She had to keep her grieving to a minimum, even now.

A few minutes later, Lex walked back into the office, two coffee mugs in hand. He set them down on the desk next to the whiskey and knelt by Terri's side. Brushing a lock of hair behind her ear, he wiped away an errant tear, hus thumb rubbing soothing circles on her cheek as he tried to get her to look at him.

"Breathe, 'Ri, just breathe. It's okay." Lex stood up and went about pouring a decent shot of whiskey into the mugs of coffee he'd made, handing one of them to Terri and sitting on the desk in front of her. "Here, this should help you a bit."

Terri took a sip of the coffee, the burn of the whiskey giving her something to focus on. Her lips twitched in a small smile; he always made her coffee just how she liked it, even though he never once asked how she took it. It was just part of who he was, he noticed the little things no one else did.

She looked up at him, perched on Joshua's desk, his tie loosened, hands wrapped around the mug settled between his knees. He noticed her watching him and offered her a smile, a smile that, from anyone else would seem like pity. From him, it just spoke of comfort and understanding. The kind of smile that said  _ 'you'll be okay'  _ and meant it.

"Thanks."

"No problem, Terri. You'd do the same for me, right?"

"I mean it, Lex. Thank you. You're the only one who would do something like this, let me let it out instead of just telling me not to think about it. Well, maybe Joshua, but even he would approach it like a dad, instead of a friend."

Terri sipped at the Irish'd up coffee and considered Lex as he mirrored her movements.

Lex set the mug down and slid off the table, sitting instead, on the arm of her chair. He wrapped an arm around her, letting her settle her head into the crook of his neck. 

"I'll always be here for you, 'Ri, you know that. I know how hard it is, the first time you find out you're part of the direct cause of taking down a terror cell. And, well, I'm gonna be blunt. Yes, there's always innocents involved. I'm sorry, really, I wish I could tell you otherwise."

Terri closed her eyes, wishing his honesty wasn't exactly what she needed to hear. But it was, she needed the reality of her actions just as much as she needed it to have never happened. Lex ran his hand along her arm, his touch helping to keep the images at bay. She let herself be surrounded by his presence. 

"How am I ever going to get used to this? Knowing that people are dead, because of me. Because I disguised a weapon as a work of art."

"You don't. Never let yourself get used to it, don't become one of them. Just accept your part in it and try to find some kind of peace in the fact that more innocent lives would've been taken if these men were allowed to live." Lex pulled her closer to him, his hand coming up to stroke her hair. "Yes, you took life, but you also helped save lives. The lives you save, will always mean more than the ones you took. It matters to them, it should matter to you."

Terri let his words sink in, the tightening in her chest easing up its grip as he comforted her, his warmth and the whiskey working their way through her. How did he always know what to say? 

She pulled back an inch and looked up at Lex, her eyes meeting his and smiling up at him, one look letting him know she would make it through this. 

Lex moved to get up from his spot, a slight pink coloring his cheeks, but Terri tugged his sleeve, pulling him further into the chair so that he was squished in beside her. He looked at her, confused, his heart speeding up at the sudden closeness.

"Terri…"

His sentence was cut off as she closed the last inch of space between them, her lips pressing to his softly. He hummed in pleasant surprise against her, his hand gliding up the back of her tank top as they kissed. Before it could deepen, Lex pulled back, his eyes taking in the relaxed expression on her face.

"'Ri, are you sure? I wouldn't want to make things awkward between us later."

"I'm sure, Lex. I've been fighting back these feelings for months now. I'm done ignoring the truth. Unless, I mean, if you don't -"

Lex pressed his lips back to hers before she could finish, leaning her back across the chair as her hands slid up his chest to grip at his collar. His tongue slid across her bottom lip, seeking entrance. She moaned against him as he explored her, hands and tongue slowly driving out all other thoughts.

Needing air, Lex took to nipping his way along her jaw, her sounds encouraging him as he trailed up to her ear, teeth grazing her earlobe and drawing out a low keen from her lips. He groaned softly at the way she felt beneath him, warn and pliant, the awkwardness of their cramped positions ignored for the moment.

"Oh, Lex. God, I love you. I think, mm, I think I have for a while now." Terri ran a hand through the hair at the nape of his neck, tugging lightly as he kissed his way down her throat. "Was just scared to put myself out there like that, after my divorce. But, shit Lex, I can't deny it anymore; no one has ever treated me the way you do. You see things no one else bothers to."

Lex sat up to look at her, his gaze adoring.

"'Ri, I fell for you the moment you walked through those doors. Beautiful, smart…amazingly talented. Fuck, Terri, your ex was a complete imbecile for leaving you." Lex maneuvered himself out of the chair, tugging her legs until she took the hint and positioned herself so that her ass rested on one arm of the chair, her head braced against the other. "Fuck, this would be so much easier on a couch, but I want to taste you so bad, 'Ri. Think you'll be okay like that?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine; fuck, Lex, I've never seen this side of you before. I think I like it."

"Well, you've only seen me in a professional setting, after all. And things are about to get far from professional right now." Lex hovered over her, slotting himself between her legs and mouthing his way along her collarbone. "If you want me to stop, just tell me, Terri, I don't want to take this further than you're willing to."

"Mm, no, I need this. I need you, Lex." 

Lex worked his way down to the swell of her breast, hands slipping under the hem of her tank top to slide over her skin. His lips closed over her nipple, the warmth of his mouth sinking through the thin fabric and causing Terri to shiver beneath him. Her hands wound into his hair as she arched into his touch, a moan drawing out into the silence of the office.

"Lex, oh shit, Lex."

Lex slunk to his knees suddenly, Terri shuddering as the air cooled the spot of wet his mouth left behind. His eyes locked with hers, asking permission once again to continue. Terri nodded, biting her lip in anticipation, and Lex slowly worked her sweatpants down her legs, panties with them. 

His hands smoothed up her legs, easing them wider as he trailed a path of kisses along her thigh, nipping at the juncture where it joined with her sex. 

"Fuck, 'Ri. So fucking beautiful." Lex lifted his head to find her staring at him, pupils lust-blown as she felt her arousal spiking at the sight of him between her legs. "Gonna show you just how gorgeous you are, fuck, I love you Terri." 

He ducked his head back down and Terri cried out in surprise as he began to work her to her first orgasm of the night. 


End file.
